


Worth It

by evilwriter37



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Dragons: Defenders of Berk, Gen, Injury, The Eel Effect, Whump, hiccup!whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-20
Updated: 2018-08-20
Packaged: 2019-06-30 05:20:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,757
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15745089
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/evilwriter37/pseuds/evilwriter37
Summary: AU of The Eel Effect. While trying to calm Toothless, Hiccup is thrown against a tree and breaks a rib. He must power through the injury to save his dragon and his people.





	Worth It

Hiccup had to pacify Toothless in order to find out what was wrong with him, but there didn’t seem to be any doing that. He approached him with his shield raised as he fired red blast after red blast, circling frantically.

“Toothless, it’ll be okay, bud! Just calm down!”

Toothless didn’t seem to hear him. Hiccup was suddenly hit with his tail, and he went flying through the air. He hit a tree. Hard. There was a  _ snap _ somewhere inside him, a rush of pain, but he couldn’t make a sound at the anguish, the air flying out of him at the impact, his head hitting the trunk. His arms flung out and he lost his grip on his shield. He slid down to the ground, back against the tree, gasping for air, each breath hurting more than the last. His back and chest were on fire and he didn’t know why. 

Hiccup couldn’t get up. He just hung his head, breathing hard, feeling faint. There were footsteps, and he blearily looked up to see Toothless near him, cooing in concern, pupils large for some reason.

“Toothless,” Hiccup breathed. He started to reach out a hand for him and lift his head, but the action was too much. His eyes rolled back and he slumped back against the tree as he passed out.

  
  


“Hiccup! Hiccup, are you okay?”

Hiccup grimaced as he woke to shaking and a voice. His head throbbed. His chest and back ached on the right side like he wouldn’t believe. 

“Fishlegs, stop shaking me,” he wheezed out.

“Oh, sorry, sorry. Are you hurt?”

Hiccup thought of telling him the truth for an instant, but then he figured that he shouldn’t. His mind instantly went to Toothless. He had to help him. His dragon was more important than he was at the moment. If he wasn’t the one waking him up, then he was gone, and something was seriously wrong with him.

“I’m fine.” He couldn’t help putting a hand to where he hurt though. He blinked open his eyes to see Fishlegs kneeling in front of him. “Just winded. Have you seen Toothless?”

“What? You mean you haven’t?”

“I did.” Wow, did talking hurt. Hiccup was wondering if he’d broken a rib. He inhaled deeply, didn’t feel bone pressing on anything, but he closed his eyes and made a face at the pain as he did it. He felt like he was being stabbed every time he took a breath, and he didn’t know how he wasn’t just laying there moaning in pain. That was certainly all he wanted to do. “But he knocked me out and-”

“Knocked you out?!” Fishlegs asked incredulously. “What was going on?”

Hiccup struggled to his foot and his prosthetic, swaying a little, trying to hide the pain he was in as best as he could. It didn’t help that his head was hurting where he’d hit it. He rubbed at the back of his head. There was a lump there.

“Something’s wrong with him,” Hiccup said. “I fell into the river and he had to save me from the eels. He, uh, ended up eating one.”

“Dragons won’t even go near eels and you’re telling me Toothless  _ ate  _ one?” Fishlegs stood, retrieved Hiccup’s shield for him and handed it back to him.

“Yeah, and I can see why they don’t go near them.” Hiccup realized something, tilted his head. “Why are you here?”

“It’s Berk, Hiccup. The Eel Pox have gotten worse.”

“Oh no.” Concern for his people, his friends, his father, pounded through him. If they didn’t hurry...

“Yeah, and I’ve got more bad news.” Fishlegs was poking his forefingers together. “All the ingredients for Gothi’s cure are in Toothless’ saddlebag.”

“Well, then I guess we have to go find him.”

  
  


Almost any movement seemed to aggravate Hiccup’s rib, but he managed to get on Meatlug, and then get off of her when they stopped in a clearing to set up a trap. They’d spotted another clearing on the way over, one with a giant spiral marking scorched into the ground. There were Typhoomerangs here. Hiccup definitely wanted to get off this island as soon as possible. He doubted his ability to fight a Typhoomerang with a broken rib and quite possibly a concussion, never mind without Toothless.

He and Fishlegs had discovered through more talking that Toothless had Eel Pox as well. He’d contracted it from the eel. Eels cured the illness in people while probably causing it in dragons, which was why dragons didn’t go near them. Though, Typhoomerangs ate eels, which would explain why they lived on this island.

He and Fishlegs managed to trap Toothless, but while they were making the cure, he escaped. Hiccup just groaned. That would mean more chasing him on a dangerous island, and all he wanted to do was lay down and stop moving. Maybe he wouldn’t hurt so much if he just didn’t move.

Fishlegs noticed the sound of course.

“Hiccup, are you sure you’re okay?”

There was no point lying about it anymore. “Not exactly. I think I… I think I broke a rib when Toothless threw me against that tree.” Hiccup removed his belt while he spoke, and he felt like he could breathe a little easier once it was gone. He was taking shallow breaths to avoid larger stabs of pain. His knees buckled once his belt came off, and Fishlegs gently took him by the shoulders, helped him sit on the ground.

“Whoa, Hiccup. Easy. You should have told me earlier!”

“Didn’t want you to worry,” Hiccup panted out. “Wanted to find Toothless.”

“Well, we found him and he got away. Don’t worry though. We’ll get him.” Fishlegs tugged at his tunic and vest. “Can I…?”

“Yeah.”

Fishlegs lifted up Hiccup’s clothing, and they both took a look at him. His upper right side just beneath his chest was swelling and turning black and blue with bruising. It was hard to tell if the rib was broken or not, but it was clear why it was hurting so much.

“Okay, maybe I just cracked it,” Hiccup said hopefully. That wasn’t as bad as all-out breaking a rib.

“I don’t know,” Fishlegs said worriedly. “We won’t know until Gothi checks you out. Are you breathing okay?”

“Really hurts to breathe,” Hiccup let him know.

Fishlegs sighed, lowered his clothing. “Hiccup, I’m not sure what to do.”

“Help me up and we’ll go find Toothless.”

  
  


Hiccup didn’t know how he did any of it, how he jumped off Meatlug’s back and onto Toothless while they were flying away from a Typhoomerang, how he managed to wrangle Toothless and get him to scare off the other dragon with Fishlegs’ help. By the time they’d trapped him with Meatlug’s weight and he and Fishlegs were working on the cure, he was sure he could actually hear his rib screaming at him, and he just wanted to lay down and cry - either that or pass out, whichever of the two was the better option. He couldn’t do either though. Once they gave Toothless the cure, they had to catch more eels, and fly back to Berk with the ingredients.

It wasn’t an easy ride.

  
  


Hiccup couldn’t even properly dismount. He slid off of Toothless’ saddle and into Fishlegs’ waiting arms, feeling like he was going to pass out again. Fishlegs took him to the Great Hall where Gothi was, but she couldn’t see him right away. Hiccup understood that. The people of Berk were sick, some close to death, and they had to be seen to first. He fell asleep on a bench, just wishing for the pain to stop.

  
  


Hiccup woke in his bed. At first he was soothed by that, snuggled into the blankets to go back to sleep. But then he was blinking open his eyes, looking around in confusion. He couldn’t remember getting here. Last he’d remembered he’d fallen asleep in the Great Hall, planning on getting a small nap in while Gothi tended to the sick. 

_ Apparently I had more than a small nap. _

Hiccup sat up, wincing, putting a hand to his rib, then rubbing at his head. He ached like he wouldn’t believe, but he could feel that he was bandaged around the abdomen, and that was a little better.

At seeing him awake, Toothless roused from his sleeping stone and went over to him, warbling. Hiccup held out his hand for him, and Toothless put his chin in his hand, let Hiccup use his other to pet his head.

“Hey, bud,” Hiccup said quietly. He didn’t feel like he could raise his voice above the volume he was using without hurting himself. “How are you doing?”

Toothless looked at him like he’d just asked a stupid question, and Hiccup figured he had. Toothless was fine whereas he was hurt. 

Then his dragon got a guilty expression on his face, and he nuzzled his face with his nose as an apology.

“Toothless, it’s alright,” Hiccup told him. “I’m not mad at you. It wasn’t your fault.”

Hiccup heard movement downstairs, his dad. There was no coughing or sneezing to accompany it, and that made Hiccup feel better. He smiled as his dad ascended the stairs to his room.

“Dad, how are you feeling?”

“Was going to ask you the same question, son. But, I’m feeling fine.” Stoick came and sat on the edge of the bed, Toothless shifting his position so that he would have room to. Stoick put a hand on Hiccup’s knee over the blankets. “How are you feeling, Hiccup?”

“I hurt,” Hiccup answered honestly. “My rib and my head.”

“Aye. Not a surprise. You’ve got a minor break and a bit of a concussion. Nothing too serious, but you’ll have to stay in bed.”

“Oh, trust me. For once I’m not arguing with you on that.” Hiccup was glad that he was going to be getting some prescribed bed rest. Despite Gothi’s attentions, he still hurt like crazy. Hiccup smiled a little though. Seeing his dad healthy, he decided that this was worth it. “How’s everyone else?”

“Recovering,” Stoick answered. He smiled too. “Thanks to you we didn’t lose a single person.”

“You hear that, Toothless?” Hiccup scratched him on the head, and Toothless burbled happily. “It was all thanks to us. Well, and the rest of the Dragon Riders.” Toothless brought his head in, so Hiccup rubbed his nose against his. “And don’t worry, Toothless. I forgive you.” He smiled again. “It was all worth it.”


End file.
